Pros: Lots of gadgets and technology to work with. Development and test teams are usually very knowledgeable.

Cons: Leadership and management don't know what to do and are more interested in proving to the higher-ups that they are making some artificially designed metrics than creating good software. Constant team shake-ups and project changes mean that you never develop much expertise unless you take it upon yourself. Culture is atrocious; most are only concerned with their own progress and will do everything they can to throw anyone else under the bus. Management likes to take credit for employees' work. Unsurprising, as performance is measured on a sliding scale rather than any real metrics. Good English is not required, which makes communication a big issue. Movement between roles is almost non-existent, although they use it as a hiring draw. Due to high turnover, management tends to be drawn from outside groups, and they have little to no knowledge of the project.

Pros: Microsoft has a good brand in both enterprise and customer markets. There are a lot of smart people around.

Cons: Micromanagement. Managers were really mean. Some old-timers were rude. Very poor work-life balance.

Pros: They really take good care of you. Work-life balance is great for a tech job. They care about your health and well-being and take your feedback seriously.

Cons: Lousy management. They have no focus or direction at all and are too concerned with raw numbers and quarterly results instead of company direction or quality. Things look like they are improving under Satya N., but it is difficult to undo so many years of mismanagement quickly. Their assessment process is terrible: they rely on numbers, e.g., number of tests, lines of code, instead of what those numbers represent.